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Speaking to Christian media, the Florida governor suggested a 7-2 conservative majority in the high court if he is elected presidentIn a speech to Christian media in Orlando, Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, envisaged the creation of a “7-2 conservative majority that would last a quarter-century” on the US supreme court should he be elected president next year.Speaking to the National Religious Broadcasters Convention, DeSantis said: “I think if you look over the next two presidential terms, there is a good chance that you could be called upon to seek replacements for Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito and the issue with that is, you can’t really do better than those two.” Continue reading...

Dr Vivek Murthy calls on tech companies and policymakers to take ‘immediate action’ to protect children’s mental health

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Television entertainer whose long and versatile career was followed by imprisonment for indecent assaultFor more than half a century until being jailed as a sex offender in 2014, Rolf Harris, who has died aged 93 after suffering from neck cancer, was one of the most celebrated television entertainers in Britain and his native Australia. He was a musician, singer, artist, comedian – a man who, as one journalist put it, had “a professional life that has skipped across disciplines with the agility of a kangaroo”.He sold millions of records with songs such as Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport (which reached No 3 in the UK charts in 1960), Sun Arise (No 3 in 1961), Two Little Boys (No 1 in 1969), and an improbable reworking of Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven (No 7 in 1993). He introduced audiences to the joys of such musical instruments as the Stylophone, the didgeridoo and the wobble board, the last his own invention. Continue reading...

Was the Dua Lipa of SW1 too famous to join an online speed awareness course with the plebs? In her own mind, at leastI think being recognised on a speed awareness course would actually have played quite well for Suella Braverman, suggesting she takes her slaps on the wrist like any ordinary person. Getting a speeding ticket is not the worst thing in the world. Let’s face it, it probably wasn’t even the worst thing she did that week. It would certainly have played better than trying to weasel out of the standard course, with or without the requested assistance of the civil servants she usually likes to insult as “the blob”. (Sarah Palin’s abortive pitch-for-power book was called Going Rogue. If the home secretary does write an equivalent tome during her next spell in the political wilderness, I’d like to see it called On the Blob.)For now, there is much to enjoy in Braverman’s sense that she was simply too famous and too distracting to do an online speed awareness course with the plebs. In fact, as attorney general at the time, Suella surely enjoyed a greater degree of anonymity than that afforded by even the better witness protection programmes. Yet the Dua Lipa of SW1 instead opted to take the three points on her licence – a genuinely ridiculous piece of judgment that will somehow not permanently disqualify her from suggesting she’s the best person to have her hands on the nuclear codes.Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnistThis June, Marina Hyde will join fellow columnists at three Guardian Live events in Leeds, Brighton and London. Readers can join these events in person and the London event will be livestreamed Continue reading...

Suspect named as Sai Varshith Kandula also charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and accused of having Nazi flagA driver who was arrested after crashing into security barriers near the White House has been charged with threatening to kill or harm the US president, along with other crimes.Police named the suspect as 19-year-old Sai Varshith Kandula from Chesterfield, Missouri, which is just to the west of St Louis. He was accused of threatening to kill, kidnap or inflict harm on the president, vice-president or a relative, said a statement from the US park police, who have jurisdiction of the area where the struck barriers are located. Continue reading...

They’re losing their grip on Oxbridge, and Labour threatens to strip elite schools of their charitable status. It just won’t doSpare a thought for the upper middle classes. Buying a private-school education in the UK used to be enough to get into Oxbridge or at the very least become prime minister, but the tide may be (slightly) turning. New research shows private-school pupils are up to a third more likely to get into Cambridge if they move to a state sixth form. Students who stayed at private schools for A-levels had an acceptance rate of 19% last year. But those who moved from a fee-paying school to a grammar school or sixth-form college had a success rate of about 25%. (Similar data from Oxford wasn’t available.)Iain Mansfield, head of education at Policy Exchange, told the Telegraph that the figures suggest universities are discriminating against fee-paying families. “This demonstrates why universities should be selecting on ability, not discriminating based on a child’s background.” If Iain’s mad now, wait until he hears about these things called private schools.Frances Ryan is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

If Democrats believe they can win the ‘messaging wars’ about a default, they’re deluded. Republicans win either wayThe favored metaphor on the left is to compare the trumped-up debt-ceiling crisis to hostage-taking by the House Republicans.But in a true hostage situation, both sides have something major to lose. The perpetrators risk not getting a payoff or, worse, spending decades in prison. For the families of the victims and the police, the danger is that the hostages will be killed during the negotiations or in the midst of a botched rescue mission.Walter Shapiro is a staff writer for the New Republic and a lecturer in political science at Yale Continue reading...

FBI and Tohono O’odham Nation investigating after Raymond Mattia shot dead on Thursday night near US-Mexico borderUS border patrol agents investigating a report of gunfire shot and killed a man on a tribal reservation in southern Arizona after he abruptly threw something and raised his arm, the agency said on Monday.The FBI and Tohono O’odham Nation are investigating Thursday night’s fatal shooting of Raymond Mattia. Continue reading...

Killing of Christian Glass, 22, in Colorado last year prompted calls to reform how authorities respond to people in crisisThe parents of a 22-year-old Colorado man in a mental health crisis killed by police are to receive $19m from government state and local agencies while prompting changes to how officers are trained under a settlement announced on Tuesday.The shooting of Christian Glass by the Clear Creek county sheriff’s office after Glass’s SUV became stuck in the mountain town of Silver Plume last year drew national attention and prompted calls to reform how authorities respond to people with mental health problems. Continue reading...

Just like Kier Starmer’s Labour, Biden’s Democrats need to stop taking young people’s support for granted. It’s not enough to say that they’re better than the competitionDonald Trump started it. In March 2020 the former president froze federal student loan repayments as an emergency pandemic measure. Since then the payment pause has been extended eight times by two administrations. More than 40 million Americans haven’t had to pay a penny on their federal student loans for three years, and there was hope that the extensions would keep coming. Those hopes were dashed last week, however, when the White House confirmed that the pandemic emergency was over and payments will resume later this year.So when is D-day? Bear with me here, because the US government doesn’t like making things simple. Payments are to resume 60 days after 30 June or, if it comes first, 60 days after the supreme court issues its ruling on whether or not president Joe Biden is allowed to follow through on his campaign promise of forgiving up to $20,000 of student loans for millions of borrowers. Continue reading...

When I started reporting on an infamous serial killer, I had to navigate my way through the genre’s ethical minefields

If debt limit not raised, the US will default on its bills. Plus, the issue with DeSantis’s $13.5m police relocation programGood morning.The US House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, and president Joe Biden said they had a “productive” discussion on the debt ceiling late on Monday at the White House but that no deal had been reached, as the government seeks to avoid a potentially catastrophic economic event.Will they be able to reach a deal? It’s unclear, but there isn’t a lot of optimism among the Democrats. In a message seen by the Guardian, a senior Democratic Senate staffer predicted disaster. “I think we will default”, the staffer said. “I think most House Republicans want a default so even if McCarthy could make a deal, he won’t have the votes to pass it.”What else is happening in Washington DC? A Nazi swastika flag has been found after a rented truck crashed into security barriers on Lafayette Square, adjacent to the White House grounds in Washington DC. Authorities have detained the driver of the truck, which was deemed safe by District of Columbia police. There were no injuries or ongoing danger.What did he say? Trump said her account of a sexual assault, in the case which he is appealing, was “fake” and a “made-up story” and referred to it as “hanky-panky”. He repeated past claims that he’d never met Carroll and considered her a “whack job”.Why is she filing a new lawsuit? Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, told the New York Times yesterday evening that allowing the former president to get away with repeating defamatory statements “makes a mockery of the jury verdict and our justice system”. Continue reading...

The average transaction price for a new vehicle is $47,713 – a third more than what Americans paid five years agoThe latest full-sized all-electric pickup truck from Detroit’s big three, is the 2025 Ram 1500 REV – burly on the outside, plush on the inside and with enough power on tap to tow 14,000lbs or light your home in a blackout. Formally introduced at last month’s New York International Auto Show, the REV is the no-compromise electric vehicle for the red meat-hungry American who would not be caught dead biting into a Beyond Burger. But it will cost you $58,000 to start. More than the average yearly wage in many US states.At the top end, the REV will cost you $100,000 – money that could buy a three-bedroom house in Milwaukee or Cleveland. And there’s every reason to believe the trend will continue as automakers unveil more new products at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this fall. Continue reading...

Anti-abortion legislators are trying to change the state’s ballot initiative rules to require a supermajority for a ballot to passOn 10 May, a group of religious leaders huddled to pray in a circle in front of the Ohio state capitol. Inside the statehouse, Republicans were voting on a bill that could thwart advocates’ efforts to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.In the group of clergy was the Rev Terry Williams, a pastor who lives in a small town about 50 miles (80km) south of Columbus. When a congregant confided in Williams in 2012 that she needed an abortion, the pastor struggled to find a clinic – there are currently only six in the state of Ohio. The experience drew Williams into reproductive health advocacy. Continue reading...

This summer will be a crisis point for the Russian president, as demands for action intensifyA new grassroots campaign calling for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to be tried for war crimes represents an escalation in the demand for justice for the people of Ukraine. Already 2 million have signed a petition calling for Putin’s indictment.Now, in the run-up to August’s Brics summit (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) to be held in Johannesburg, more than half a million have already called for the South African authorities to put him in prison if he flies in to their country. This public pressure comes as European leaders meeting in Reykjavík have intensified their call for coordinated intergovernmental action to find a way to punish Putin for his crimes. Continue reading...

The Louisiana senator, once a Democrat, trots out folksy, at times racist lines in an exaggerated accent – but is it a put-on?Senator John Neely Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, offended Mexicans across the world in a hearing on the FBI and DEA’s budget this month, calling for American military members and law enforcement agents to invade their country in order to “stop the cartels” while adding that Mexico would be “eating cat food and living in tent behind an Outback [Steakhouse]” if not for “the people of America”.Mexico’s top diplomat condemned the comments as “profoundly ignorant”, and the country’s ambassador to the US called for a formal apology for the “vulgar and racist” language. Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, urging the more than 37 million Americans of Mexican and other Latin American descent to “not to vote for people with this very arrogant, very offensive and very foolish mentality” in the future. Continue reading...

When I watched Melo on the court, I watched more than a player, but a fully realized person, warts and all. He is my favorite player because he remains the most relatableI wasn’t prepared for Carmelo Anthony’s retirement announcement. One, because I thought he would, and should, play a few more years. He was still in game shape and could bring a veteran scoring presence to any team in the NBA.The second reason is because I am in the middle of the most consequential separation of my adult life with the woman I still consider my soul mate. Like with Anthony, or Melo, as he is known affectionately by his fans, there was no obvious inciting incident. Melo and the game seemed to drift apart and neither could give the other what they wanted. The same can be said for my former partner and me. The video he released showcasing his amazing journey from the gang-infested streets of Baltimore, to the mountaintop of Syracuse, to becoming the ninth leading scorer in NBA history broke me. I had yet to cry for the ending of my relationship, but Monday’s news brought it my grief to the fore: one of our favorite rituals was watching the NBA and cheering for the Knicks together. Continue reading...

Grieving and pregnant, Shiv Roy’s wardrobe speaks to those of us who have tried to hold it down at life-changing momentsIn the days after my mother’s death, I spent a lot of time online looking for shoes to wear to her funeral.Not an obvious reaction to grief. But while I had a dress – a black one with pretty red peonies that I kept rolled up in my bag when her illness began to accelerate during the summer – we were in lockdown so the shops were shut, and I wasn’t going to wear Birkenstocks. Eventually, I found some brogues on eBay and, after wiping them with Dettol, tried everything on. I looked nice, put together. But this was the problem. Looking “put together” seemed like the wrong response when I felt anything but. On the day of her funeral, I wore my mother’s navy skirt suit. It was too big and I was too hot, but for both reasons felt much more appropriate.Morwenna Ferrier is the Guardian’s fashion and lifestyle editor Continue reading...

Joe Hollins heard screams and ran to help a woman who dropped her daughters and two dogs, then jumped to escape the flamesAn unhoused man in Arizona has earned the title of “angel” from a woman whom he helped rescue from a burning apartment, alongside her children and pets.As those at the center of the extraordinary story told it to CBS News, Joe Hollins and his wife have been experiencing homelessness and happened to be camped out near an apartment which caught fire early on Thursday in Phoenix. Hollins became aware of the emergency when he heard screams coming from the apartment. Continue reading...

If the debt limit is not raised, the US government will default on its bills: a historic first likely to have catastrophic consequencesThe US House speaker Kevin McCarthy and president Joe Biden said they had a “productive” discussion on the debt ceiling late on Monday at the White House but that no deal had been reached, as the government seeks to avoid a potentially catastrophic economic event.If the debt limit is not raised, the US government will default on its bills: a historic first likely to have catastrophic consequences. Federal workers would be furloughed, global stock markets would be likely to crash and the US economy would probably drop into recession. The treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, has said this will happen on or around 1 June if no deal to raise the $31.4tn debt ceiling is reached. Continue reading...

Siblings were carried away by currents after entering the Kings River, which was off limits due to high water levelsA search crew found the body of a four-year-old boy in a surging California river on Monday, a day after his eight-year-old sister died when they were swept away by the current.Searchers in a boat spotted the boy’s body in the Kings River, about 1.75 miles (2.8km) downstream from where he and his sister went into the water, the Fresno county sheriff’s office said in a statement. Continue reading...

South Carolina senator makes speech referencing work and immigration as he announces campaign to run for Republican nomination in 2024 raceTim Scott is on stage now announcing his presidential bid.“America is the greatest nation on God’s green earth,” the senator began. “And our greatness doesn’t come from politicians, doesn’t come from the government. It comes from we, the people.” Continue reading...

Governor’s incentive scheme recruits officers with history of excessive violence or who have been arrested since signing upNumerous police officers lured to new jobs in Florida with cash from Governor Ron DeSantis’s flagship law enforcement relocation program have histories of excessive violence or have been arrested for crimes including kidnapping and murder since signing up, a study of state documents has found.DeSantis, who is expected to launch his campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination this week, has spent more than $13.5m to date on the recruitment bonus program, which he touted in 2021 as an incentive to officers in other states frustrated by Covid-19 vaccination mandates. Continue reading...

A judge entered not guilty pleas for the accused, Bryan Kohberger, whose attorney said will ‘stand silent’ at this timeA judge entered not guilty pleas on Monday for a man charged in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, setting the stage for a trial in which he could face the death penalty.The 13 November 2022 killings stunned the rural community of Moscow, Idaho, and prompted many students to leave campus early, switching to remote learning for the remainder of the semester. Continue reading...

A handsome victory for the centre-right is dismal news for those who have suffered from years of austerityOn Sunday night, the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, triumphantly described his country’s general election result as an “earthquake”. After a remarkable victory, this piece of political hyperbole seemed almost justified.Prior to the weekend, no ruling party had increased its vote share in Greece for more than 40 years. It had been predicted that a state wiretapping scandal, and the background to a catastrophic rail accident in February, could damage Mr Mitsotakis’s prospects. Yet polls predicting a relatively close race proved wildly out, as the centre-right New Democracy party gained more than double the votes of its leftwing rival, Syriza. Having fractionally failed to win an absolute majority, Mr Mitsotakis may now trigger a second election – to be held under a different proportional system – which would be likely to hand him a handsome mandate. Continue reading...

With the right government policies and lifelong learning, we can learn to work alongside AIThe staggering recent progress in artificial intelligence (AI) has left many fearing for their jobs. The ominous drumbeats grew louder earlier this month when Geoffrey Hinton, the godfather of AI, resigned from Google and expressed his concerns about the potential of the technology to upend the job market, just as IBM put the brakes on nearly 7,800 jobs that could be replaced by AI and automation over time. Last week, BT announced it would cut up to 55,000 jobs by 2030, with about 10,000 predicted to be replaced by AI.These announcements are not surprising: if businesses are to survive in our market economy, they must adapt to these technological shifts to remain competitive and profitable. Continue reading...

Minnesota woman’s 33rd anniversary ring went down the toilet, but workers recently recovered it and tracked its owner downThirteen years after she accidentally flushed it down the toilet, a Minnesota woman’s pipe dream came true: she was reunited with the gold diamond ring once gifted to her by her husband.“Oh my gosh, this is my ring,” Strand said at the metropolitan council office in Rogers when she was presented with the ring for the first time since losing it. “It’s nice to see it again.” Continue reading...

South Carolina senator announces campaign, increasing number of candidates for 2024 Republican nominationTim Scott, a senator from South Carolina, formally announced his candidacy in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. One of an increasing number of nominees joining a fight that will include heavyweights Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, the South Carolina senator has risen quickly over the past decade to a position of prominence in the GOP.Here are 10 things to know about Tim Scott. Continue reading...

Black conservative from South Carolina, a stalwart abortion foe and gun rights advocate, is latest to take on Donald TrumpTim Scott formally launched his presidential campaign on Monday, joining a growing field of Republican candidates looking to capture their party’s nomination and rob Donald Trump of another opportunity to face off against Joe Biden next year.“Under President Biden, our nation is retreating away from patriotism and faith,” Scott told a cheering crowd at Charleston Southern University in his home state of South Carolina. “Joe Biden and the radical left are attacking every rung of the ladder that helped me climb. And that is why I am announcing today that I am running for president of the United States of America.” Continue reading...

American football star who quit his sporting career to become an actor and civil rights activistThe greatest running back in the history of American football, Jim Brown, who has died aged 87, was one of the finest all-round athletes of his era, excelling in both football and lacrosse. He quit pro football at the peak of his career to pursue an acting career, and became an iconoclastic civil rights activist. But the ferocity that made him a fine player and imposing figure of black pride also expressed itself in repeated accusations of violence against women.When Brown entered the National Football League in 1957, runners were either big fullbacks or smaller, more shifty halfbacks. At 6ft 2in and 16st 6lb, Brown was both; big as a fullback, but with the speed, balance and skill to set up his blockers and the power to run through tacklers. His battles with the New York Giants linebacker Sam Huff, basically the same size, helped build the NFL’s violent image. Asked how he tackled Brown, Huff said “you grab on and pray for help”. Continue reading...

Civil rights group cites Governor Ron DeSantis’s ‘attempts to erase Black history’ and other groups have followed suitThe National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has issued a travel advisory for the state of Florida, calling the state “actively hostile” to minorities as Florida’s conservative government limits diversity efforts in schools.In a Saturday press release, the civil rights organization better known as the NAACP said the travel warning comes as Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, “attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools”. Continue reading...

Republicans like Marjorie Taylor Greene and nihilists like Trump are more committed to gaining power than to cutting the government debtOn 22 October 1985, the treasury secretary, James A Baker III, told congressional leaders that if Congress failed to raise the debt ceiling by the end of the month, the Reagan administration would pay the nation’s bills by taking back treasury securities in which social security had invested.It was an extraordinary move. Under Baker’s plan, social security would lose interest on its funds.Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com Continue reading...

Daniel Penny, 24, charged with manslaughter over subway death, tells New York Post ‘I’m a normal guy’ and denies being a vigilanteThe retired US marine who has been charged with manslaughter after he placed a fellow New York City subway rider in a deadly chokehold has denied that he was acting as a vigilante, insisting “I’m not a white supremacist … I’m a normal guy.”Daniel Penny, who is white, defended his conduct in an interview with the New York Post. He expressed sadness but showed no personal remorse about the death of Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old Black man who had been struggling with mental illness and lack of housing. Continue reading...

The Syriza party did worse than most thought possible, despite a series of prime ministerial scandals and widespread povertyGreece’s election results were a big surprise for the winners, the losers and the pollsters. In a country where huge numbers of people are struggling every day, with almost a third of the population estimated to be at risk of poverty, the prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s rightwing New Democracy party managed to secure 40% of the vote – a remarkable victory that no polling agency predicted.The runner-up was the former prime minister Alexis Tsipras of the centre-left Syriza party, best known for its turbulent confrontation with the EU’s economic centres of power in 2015. He picked up only 20% of the vote, much lower than the pollsters had predicted and lower than most Greeks – friends and enemies of Syriza alike – thought possible. The lack of an outright majority for New Democracy makes the most plausible scenario a second election in June or early July – this round is designed to give bonus seats to the winner, increasing its chances of securing a majority. Continue reading...

Republican US senator expected to wade into battle so far dominated by Donald Trump and Ron DeSantisTim Scott is set to enter the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination on Monday, wading into a battle that has so far been dominated by two conservative favorites: Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis.Scott, the only Black Republican US senator, is scheduled to make his official campaign announcement in his home town of North Charleston after filing papers for his candidacy last week with the Federal Election Commission. The late morning event is being hosted at Charleston Southern University, Scott’s alma mater and a private school affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Continue reading...

Democrats suggest ex-FBI agent turned purported whistleblower Garret O’Boyle was not fully truthful about legal counsel fundingA key Republican witness is facing questions over whether he lied under oath about receiving financial aid from an ally of former US president Donald Trump.Garret O’Boyle, a former FBI field agent turned purported whistleblower, testified last week to a congressional panel investigating what Republicans assert is the “weaponisation” of the federal government against conservatives. Continue reading...

The two-time NBA champion has built a successful television career in his post-playing days. Now he has decided to share his experiences in a new bookIn his rookie year on the Sacramento Kings during the late 1980s, Kenny Smith experienced a frightening moment that had nothing to do with basketball. He was getting a ride home from his coach, when their car was pulled over. Raised in a predominantly Black neighborhood of Queens, New York, Smith had a wary view of the police. He worried about the traffic stop of two Black men by a white officer. In the end, nothing happened, thanks to the unflappability of his coach – Hall of Famer Bill Russell, who told the cop he could give a ticket or a lecture, but not both. The officer recognized the 11-time NBA champion and let him go on his way.“It was the first time, as an African American young man, that I had seen someone question authority that fast, that deliberate,” says Smith. Continue reading...

In second presidential bid, Williamson is running a more grounded campaign – as a political outsider appalled at how America’s political elites have ignored the needs of ordinary peopleA penthouse-gym in north-west Washington DC served as a campaign stage for the long-shot Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson last week. Athleisure-clad political consultants came and went, as if typecast from a political TV drama. The Washington monument poked between buildings in the distance.Williamson is far from an average political candidate, even in the modern era of American politics where it often feels much of what was once unthinkable has become a scary new normal. She is not a politician, but instead an author and wellness guru, whose quixotic first tilt at the White House four years ago was far from successful but saw her grace the Democratic debates and score a viral hit with her message to Donald Trump that she would “harness love” to defeat him. Continue reading...

Tensions over technology continue, after US ban on using TikTok on government phones

Exclusive: Unreported warning contained in notes taken by lawyer Evan Corcoran that prosecutors have viewed in recent monthsFederal prosecutors have evidence Donald Trump was put on notice that he could not retain any classified documents after he was subpoenaed for their return last year, as they examine whether the subsequent failure to fully comply with the subpoena was a deliberate act of obstruction by the former president.The previously unreported warning conveyed to Trump by his lawyer Evan Corcoran could be significant in the criminal investigation surrounding Trump’s handling of classified materials given it shows he knew about his subpoena obligations. Continue reading...

Sunday night phone call between president and Republican House speaker reported to have struck a more positive tone. Plus, how solar farms took over the California desertGood morning.Joe Biden and the House Republican speaker, Kevin McCarthy, have held a “productive” phone call on the continued impasse over the debt ceiling and promised to meet today after the president returned to Washington.What will happen if a deal isn’t struck? Less than two weeks remain until the 1 June deadline, upon which the Treasury department has said the federal government could be unable to pay all its debts. Without raising the debt limit, the US government will default on its bills, a historic first, with likely catastrophic consequences. Federal workers would be furloughed, global stock markets would crash and the US economy would probably drop into a recession.What has PNG’s prime minister said? James Marape denied that US staff would have legal immunity and said no amendments would be made to the constitution or laws of the country. He said the country faced significant security challenges. “I need to strengthen and protect my country’s borders and ensure the safety of my people,” he said. “So this has nothing to do with geopolitics, this cooperation will strengthen our defence and help build our capacity.” Continue reading...